Saint Seiya Omega: Enter the Dragon
by Jenny DeVic
Summary: After an unfortunate event, Shiryu and Shunrei decide to send their son,Ryuho, to Palestra to refine his abilities as a Saint.
1. Chapter 1

**Saint Seiya ****Omega: Enter the Dragon**

**Chapter One: Limits! Time to Say Goodbye**

Shunrei carried a basket of various vegetables from the garden over toward the clean stream to be washed and prepared for supper. Her eyes turned to the side of the mountain watching a figure hugging the side of what looked like a very small ledge. His black hair waved up and down, brushing from his shoulders to his cheeks, causing the child to smack it from his eyes with one hand while using another to grasp the rocky wall. His violet trainer was soaking with sweat. For a moment, it seemed like she was gazing in the past until the figure turned his head.

"Hi Mom! What are you cooking tonight? Is it soup?" Ryuho waved wildly as his Mother stood there cradling a parsnip that looked bigger than her head.

Shunrei waved back, "I am." She gazed at his spot and realized he was just twenty feet from the peak of the mountain, more than double his normal route. She knew that Shiryu was having him work on strengthening what little endurance he had, but she never expected him to go this far today unless he hadn't been coming back down to the hut to take his afternoon nap. "Ryuho, how long have you been up there?"She called to him as loud as she could.

Ryuho felt nervous as he hugged his body as close as he could against the rocky wall. "All day?" he nervously replied before he let out a small series of muted coughs. He looked down as his beloved mother's hand covered her mouth in shock. He needed to think fast. "I took a nap over at one spot where there was plenty of room, and I packed an extra lunch and medicine just in case!" He reached for his pocket and held out waded up paper sack in his hand.

"Son, whatever you climb up, you'll have to climb down. What about your blood sugar? Have you checked it while you are up there?" He was so far up, but she could easily tell he was a little on the paler side.

The boy sighed as he remembered his last reading from his break earlier. "It was fine three hours ago, but it's probably low now," he reluctantly admitted, wishing he didn't have to tell her but having no desire to lie to his mother. Instead he held his hands and turned to her. "Mother, if you want me to come back down, I will, but, I _really_ want to reach the top before I turn back. I'm so close." He pleaded.

Shunrei sighed as she folded her arms in deep thought. The mountain that her son was on was one that Shiryu used to race Ohko up hundreds of times a day. When Shiryu was Ryuho's age, he could even leap from one peak to the other like a monkey swinging from tree to tree. She knew that Ryuho desired to at least reach the top once, no matter how much time it took. She wanted to say no, but it would break his heart and his pride, and unlike Shiryu, Ryuho needed all the pride he can get. "Alright, but if you feel dizzy, you come back down immediately."

Not too far from them, Shiryu sat cross-legged in front of a large waterfall. Some would think he was meditating there as his old Master had done for many years or even sleeping with the gentle mist of the flowing waters cooling his face. However, he was doing neither. After Hades had been defeated, a few years later, new enemy appeared named Mars. At first, he and his friends weren't too worried as he started appearing with his Army of _Martians_. He remembered how Seiya laughed at the name of the foot soldiers stating that it sounded like their battle was taking place in a B-Rated movie. But Mars proved far more formidable, crushing the group, and leaving him without his five senses. It was a heavy price to pay, but at least Mars had been stopped and sent back to his world.

While he may not have his senses, his cosmos and his long periods of blindness allowed him to use them to formulate images of what was going on and decipher what was being said to him. Perhaps he couldn't respond to anyone unfamiliar to the cosmos, but at least he wasn't left in the dark and can watch over his son's progress with his Dragon Cloth. His cosmos showed the boy sweating heavily, trying to stretch his foot over a small gap. "Come on son… you're so close!" he cheered in his mind, feeling touched as the child attempted to reach the top in an attempt to honor his name.

Back in the hut, Shunrei finished boiling the vegetables before dumping it into a large bowl. She grabbed a stone pounder and like all of her son's meals began to smash the food down until it resembled a greenish-brown puree. She reached over for three small balls of prepared medicine. She took a teaspoon and carefully measured out the appropriate amounts onto of the food before stirring it in and scooping it into Ryuho's favorite blue bowl. It looked so unappetizing with the crisp spring vegetables looking more like a cup of mud. However, Ryuho always ate it up and seemed to enjoy it.

She placed her hand as she stared at it some more. When she was growing up, one of her favorite pleasures was creating many beautiful dishes that were described more as botanical art than culinary, especially on special days when Shiryu did exceptional for his training with the Old Master. Vegetables were fun to use since they could be easily shaped into flowers.

Unfortunately, Ryuho's stomach is very delicate and in order for him to absorb any nutrition without throwing up was to liquefy it to make it easily digestible making any dish she created pretty for a few moments before being smashed up into a paste.

Shunrei placed her hand on the side of her head. When she was first pregnant, she had dreams of preparing beautiful little lunches for her husband and child as they run off to do training. Unfortunately, her son was born twelve weeks too early, and thus led the doctors to call him _special_.

She was thankful he had no mental problems, in fact, he was exceptionally smart, but his body just didn't develop right. Every day required special preparation, from the type of food he ate, his daily medicine, to the type of detergent for his clothes. Shiryu once spent a week combing the woods to find and destroy any peanut plants. Sometimes it would give her and Shiryu a headache on Ryuho's condition; however he was their pride and joy, the light of their life, and through that it helped them resist the urge to wish that Ryuho was born _normal_.

Shunrei sighed as she stared at the ugly paste, trying to think of what to do to celebrate Ryuho's climb. Her eyes turned to the vase of flowers. She reached for one of the white flowers, broke it from its stem and placed it in the center before adding some pieces of cabbage on the side before clasping her hands. Maybe it wasn't elaborate, but she was sure he would enjoy it.

Ryuho took a deep breath as he gazed at the ten foot gap from the ledge he was on to the final turn to the top of the mountain. He turned to the side of the ledge to see where his Father had apparently used the side to cling to like a spider and crossed over. He grabbed the ledge and attempted lift his body up, only to find a lack of physical strength to follow afterwards before pulling away. He looked up at the top of the peak where a stick with an old ragged shirt was used as a flag blew in the air. He gazed at for a few seconds before turning back to the gap. "I have to try!" he thought diligently before he brought he raised his hand into the air. "Waters of the sky, I summon thee, form a bridge from my destination to me!" he called out as the droplets from the clouds began pull out, causing a stream of water to emerge from the sky before taking the form of a dragon.

Ryuho moved his hand over in front of him as if guiding his guardian constellation. He narrowed his eyes, focusing on the dragon as it crashed in the center of the gap with water spreading out to connect the two sides to allow him the cross. He smiled at his work before putting his foot on the watery surface, testing to make sure that it was solid enough to put his weight on. He took a few steps forward and looked down to see the translucent image of the ground below. It definitely looked like a long ways to fall. But still he took a breath to stay focused on crossing over. He hurried to the top and reached over for a stick with one of his father's old shirt's tied to the side like a flag. He reached down, picked it up and raised it in the air. "Father, look! I did it!" Ryuho cried as he waved the old flag causing the disintegrating shirt to break off. "Oops!" he gasped. He looked down as a wave of good cosmos came over him. It was the spirit of his father, showering him with affection and causing him to smile.

The boy was not done yet. "Mother!" he shouted waving his hands. He watched as she looked up and waved her hand, holding what looked like a bowl full of supper in her hands and making him hungry.

"Congratulations!" she cried out.

Ryuho continued to hold his wooden stick. "Mother! You wouldn't believe what I just did!" he shouted, causing a long echo afterwards.

"Tell me down here!" she pointed toward the table where they always sat at.

The boy blushed a bit, feeling silly about attempting to yell his story to her. "Sorry!" He looked down at the stick and down to his clothes. He should replace the flag with his own shirt, but the weather was feeling cooler and he didn't want to catch a cold and go back to the doctor like last time. Besides, he liked his shirts, and it would be silly to just rip it up for no reason. Perhaps he'll have to beat the mountain a second time, and make sure he'll bring an extra shirt. He headed back over toward his water bridge, noticing the surface was wavering a bit. He held his hand out over the bridge and caused the water to steady.

He took a deep breath and began to cross his bridge when dizziness began to overcome him. "Oh," he muttered as his head felt hot. Did he overexert himself with the long climb and the water bridge? He grabbed the side of the rocks and heaved heavily.

Shunrei stared as she watched Ryuho stumble a bit over the water bridge. "Ryuho!" she cried out as she placed the bowl down. "Ryuho!" she called out again as her motherly instincts began to kick in. Suddenly the water bridge broke apart causing her son to fall through it. "Ryuho!" she gasped as a blood curdling scream followed. Her eyes widened as he tumbled down before he fell into some brush that was growing to the side of the cliffs and were it miraculously held the lightweight child up. She ran to the hut and grabbed a fairly long bamboo ladder and a long rope. She hurried to the ledge and placed the ladder down to bridge a gap that would allow her to reach halfway up the mountain.

She rushed along the path before stopping at the closet ledge where her son landed fifteen feet below. She took her rope and threw it over the side until the end was lying on Ryuho's stomach. "Ryuho, grab it!" Shunrei cried.

The boy weakly opened his eyes, ignoring the blood that dripped from the side of his temple. He looked down and grasped it before turning to her. "Mommy?" he weakly cried as he took his scratched up hands and began to pull his body up.

Shunrei bit her lip trying to appear calm. "Ryuho! Grab the rope! Mommy is here!" She spoke as she rolled the rope around her hands to get a firmer grasp.

Ryuho, grasped it and attempted to climb up. He got a foot up in the air before his legs gave out causing him to slide back down to the bush where it finally broke off and left his feet dangling. "Mother!" Ryuho cried as his hands clenched the slippery rope.

"Don't let go!" Shunrei cried. "Try again!" She watched nervously as Ryuho brought his knees close to the rope and began to pull himself up a foot before sliding back down with his hands holding the bottom end. "Oh no!" she thought before she began to reach down. "Ryuho, focus on holding on, I'll pull you up!" she cried as she bent her knees and using all her strength, she reached for the one side of the rope and began to pull up. Her face turned red as she pulled with all her might. Only for the rope to slide in her grasp.

Shiryu's conscious darkened in fear as he saw the painful image before him. On one end, his only son, too weak to climb up or use any of his water element to help him, while his wife was not strong enough to pull him up to save him on the other.

Every time either of them try and failed it almost looked like they would both tumble afterwards, and all he could do, as he had done for most of Ryuho's training was to sit idly by, taking in the blood curdling screams of his wife with a passive face.

"Help me! Help!" Shunrei shouted over and over as the rope's fibers continued to slice through the outside of her fingers.

Ryuho stared at her reddening face, watching her silk shoes began to buckle on the side. He reached his hand up to try and pull himself even a little bit only to slide again, coating the rope fibers with his blood. "Mother," Ryuho thought. His eyes gazed at the rope. "She won't let go of me, but if she doesn't she'll fall and we'll both die. If I let go, at least Mother will have one less person to take care of." Before he could turn to her and say his goodbye, a set of voices not too far from them. He watched as his rasping mother stopped shouting as two young Chinese college students wearing hiking gear came to her side and began to help pull him up.

"Are you alright?" asked one of the hikers as he placed a firm hand over the young Dragon Saint's back.

Ryuho sat on his knees. He turned to his Mother gasping as her bloody hands trembled and her face flinching as the other hiker tried to clean her cut hands. "Mother.. Fath-," he felt himself mutter before darkness filled his vision.

The next moment, Ryuho opened his eyes, to see his mother staring down at him, her hair seemingly brushed and braided. He blinked for a moment, trying to speak before he paused to hear the late night songs of the crickets outside. Most would be startled at the revelation that so much time had passed, but for him, it saddened him that he couldn't go an entire week without falling unconscious after training. He gasped as his light green eyes gazed at her blood stained bandages around her fingers. "Mother!" He gasped as he sat forward before gritting his teeth pain. His arms and torso felt as if every ligament in his body were stretched out. He didn't even resist when his mother pushed him back down. "Mother, I'm so sorry! Your hands!" the thirteen year old cried as he reached out to grab them only to realize his hands were wrapped up to the point that it looked a set of mittens.

Shunrei calmly reached over for teapot and poured a small cup. She reached for his head and lifted a bit. "Here, drink my son, this will make the pain go away," she rasped.

Ryuho couldn't believe how horse she sounded. It almost seemed like her throat being scrapped away with every word. He leaned forward and sipped some tea before he pointed to the teapot. "Mother, please drink some too."

"Don't worry about me, I already have," she took a moment to cough to the side.

He turned to a small bowl sitting beside him with a white flower, green cabbage leaves sitting on top of his typical vegetable dinner. "Aw, she made a lily-pad on my soup!" he thought. His mother loved making beautiful looking food. He was amazed she was able to come up with anything pretty for what he was normally fed. He turned his head and watched her pull out several mint leaves to chew, his heart began to break. "Oh, mother, I'm so sorry. I should have never tried to climb it." He pleaded before his Mother reached down and hugged him.

"No Ryuho, you've done nothing wrong. It was just a part of your training, that's all." Shunrei whispered as best as she could. She was split on the idea of her son following the path of the Old Master and now his Father. She thought with all his medical issues, that perhaps he would be deterred from the calling of Athena. On one hand, Ryuho would carry on the tradition of the Dragon Cloth. On the other, he stood a good chance of dying before his twentieth birthday. Shiryu promised her now that Poseidon and Hades were defeated; there really wasn't any major threat for their son to contend with on Earth. They never counted on Mars to come out of now where while still maintain her husband's word. "Ryuho, I've been speaking to your Father, and he showed me a cosmos image in my mind. It was _important_. But, we'll talk about it later, when you are feeling-." She stopped before she began coughing and reached for her own cup of tea.

The young boy gasped as she mentioned this. "Important? What do you mean?" Fear came over his heart, causing him to wonder if the day that he would be forbidden to continue training had come. He sat up, ignoring the onslaught of body aches that came over him. He watched as she attempted to speak more but, could tell by the slight tears in her eyes that her throat ached too much to say another word. "Mother, I'm sorry. I'll go see Father, you rest here." He stood up and bit his lip as he rushed out of the hut, only to stop to catch his breath. He looked up to see his Father sitting at his normal spot in front of a large waterfall as he had for several years.

He took a deep breath, sensing the cosmos around him, trying to see if his Father was angry for him attempting the mountain and causing Mother to injure her hands, only to feel sadness. His father sat there as he had since being returned from the great battle against Mars, eyes closed, motionless with only the roar of the waterfall preventing the silence to come between them. It took such a long time for him to get used to seeing him in this state. His Mother told him stories about when he was younger, every morning he tugging at his father's silk shirt asking him to wake up, only to get the same dull stares of lifelessness. Even now, he was tempted to tap on his Father's shoulder and ask again, in hope that he was miraculously cured and he would answer.

However, he knew what it would do to Mother; it would just make her cry again.

Instead, Ryuho sat in front of him, a couple of feet away and placed his hands on his knees. From there, he would be close enough for Father to focus what little control he had in his cosmos order to form words with his mind. "_Father?_" He waited until he felt a slight pulse of cosmos to let him know he was aware, before continuing. "_Mother said_," Ryuho paused as he felt the sadness in his Father's cosmos deepen before he continued, "_Mother said that she spoke to you about something important and you showed her something in her mind. She was going to tell me, but her voice gave out. What was it?_"

Ryuho swallowed hard, trying to fill his emotions with confidence to try the impossible task of avoiding his Father from detecting the nervousness from within him. Did his Father see him falling off the mountain as an indication of his limits and thus an end to his life as a Saint? Perhaps it would put an end to his fear of being in a position where he was forced to kill, but if his journey as a Saint ended, it also meant he wouldn't be able to grow strong enough to reach the other abilities of the cosmos. He had heard that Saints who reached great strength were able to heal their bodies and create miracles. Mother even told him that his Father's cosmos had risen so high, he was able to cure his blindness _twice_, although he was fairly certain she was exaggerating. If he gave up his Cloth, he would have no chance of curing his Father. Ryuho felt his chest rise up and down as the seconds went by before his Father finally answered.

"_Palestra. I showed her, Palestra._"

"Palestra?" Ryuho muttered out loud in shock. He knew full well what it was. Palestra was a school that was established after the uprising against Athena and two Holy Wars against Hades and Poseidon nearly decimated the Saint ranks. There, it was to either help trainees become Saints or for current Saints to train and strengthen their cosmos at. His parents choose to keep him here since it didn't make sense for him to go somewhere else with his Father being one of the best. Did they change their minds? _"Are you, sending me there?"_ He asked only to receive a yes afterwards, but it still didn't make much sense.

"_Yes son. The only way for you to grow in your abilities is to go to Palestra."_

Ryuho bit his lip. Without his five senses, his Father's words lacked any emotion and came off as if a computer was speaking to him, and the cosmos around them was still filled with deep sadness. Even if he tried to think otherwise, it was very difficult for his Father to emote in his state. "But _I don't want to leave! I-_" Ryuho turned his head down, feeling ashamed of openly defying his Father.

He sighed. "_I'll go if that is your wish. I'll even pack up tonight if that is what you want. Just tell me, is there any other reason? Was it because I couldn't climb back down the mountain and I am unworthy of your training?"_ He felt his heartbeat slowly speed up as he waited for his Father's was taking a bit longer than normal for a reply. It was either that his Father was gathering his cosmos to create a long message, or that he was hesitant to answer.

"_I am very proud of you, I always have been. __When the doctors said you wouldn't be able to walk, you ran. When they said you would be nonverbal, you told them no. When everyone at Sanctuary said your body would not be worthy of a Cloth, you summoned it from the sky. You have always been able to go beyond your limits; however, I can't say the same for myself._"

Ryuho was smiling during his Father's speech, but felt sadness so deep in his Father's cosmos that it felt like he was falling in a void as if he was accepting his loss of his five senses. "_Father, don't say that! Your lessons are far greater than any other teacher out there._" He wondered if it was because he was forced to sit during the whole incident. If those climbers weren't nearby, they wouldn't have been able to have this conversation now.

More dreadful silence followed.

"_I wish you could stay, but I understand now, that your potential is limited to your Mother's ability to keep you safe during your training. That is not only a responsibility I do not wish to burden her with, but if training under me forces you to hold back, then perhaps Palestra will be the better option. Besides, you will be able to experience different methods and meet other students."_

Ryuho looked up and produced a smile. He didn't want to make his Father any sadder than he already was. "_It would be nice to meet other Saints. I like playing with the other children in the village, but none of them are aware that I am a Saint._" At least until one of them tried to steal his Mother's money to purchase rice. "_I've never even been to Greece and from the pictures of Palestra, it looks very pretty._" He felt his grin widen as his Father's sadness seemed to lift significantly. "_I hope I will make friends there!_"

"_You will, son. Friends are extremely important in the training of a Saint. As Old Master, your grandfather, once told me, __to train with friends will make you grow exponentially, but to train alone will only make you cocky._"

The thirteen year old raised a brow. "_But Father, you trained alone and you were never cocky_."

"_You never saw me like that, __but I was at one point… always certain I could beat anything until Seiya, showed me the error of my thoughts._"

Ryuho could sense his Father's cosmos brighten, as if recalling a good memory, although, in the past when his Father was moving and able, he always talked about his fight between him and Pegasus Seiya as if he would've done something different, he could have beaten him. Ryuho turned his head to see his Mother standing there, holding several old scrolls that were sent from Palestra inviting him to try and come. He gazed at his Father's cosmos aura, and could tell it was exhausted from a combination of the strain of sending his highly focused messages as well as emotions. He politely bowed to him and bid him goodnight, feeling his Father's warm cosmos come over him, before Ryuho walked over to his Mother.

"You two were there for a while," Shunrei spoke, her voice still cracking but not as raspy as before.

Ryuho gave a small nod. "I was just shocked that he would want me to go to Palestra."

"You don't mind, do you?" she asked as she took her cup of honey-mint tea and sipped it.

"Oh no, in fact, it sounds very exciting!" He spoke as he tried to be a bit more upbeat but it was very difficult. It wasn't that Palestra sounded bad or that he was getting a different type of training. In fact, he'd like to meet and train with other Saints to see what other elements and techniques looked like. In that sense, he would become stronger than over there. Perhaps the only thing that he was truly upset with was seeing his Father, the man who fought Silver Saints, Gold Saints, and two Gods, had given up on himself. However, if he could raise his cosmos high enough, maybe he'd acquire the level to be able to heal, and cure his Father. "Father really wants me to go, but what do you think Mother? Do you want me to go?"

She reached over and held his arm. "It will be, a bit lonely here…" she closed her eyes.

_Shunrei, it is understandable that you are worried about Shiryu and Ohko. The path of a Saint is dangerous; however __**it must be**__ in order to survive. _

Shunrei felt the Old Master's words echo in her heart. Watching Shiryu fight until he was broken and exhausted was hard at times, but if he didn't push himself to his limits, she wouldn't have any doubt that he would've died a long time ago. Now Ryuho donned the Cloth of the closest person she could regard as her Father as well as her husband. If he is to survive, even if these are peaceful times, he must train to his limit as well. "…but it is nothing new. Besides, you're going to school. It's something that every parent must expect in their life."

Ryuho looked over as she smiled and held her hands tightly. He laid his head on her shoulder. "Mother, you won't be completely lonely. Father will be here, and you learned to accept his cosmos images in your mind."

She nodded, "Yes, we are able to do that but after several years of training. It's not much, but at least I have some link to him, even in his state." She took her finger and wiped her eye. "Although, I do miss his voice and every day as you get older, it feels like I can hear him more in you-" Shunrei stopped, swallowed hard before controlling her emotions. "We should go to the house and prepare your travel. A new semester will start soon, and if we miss the deadline to enter, it could be months before we can try again."

Ryuho took his arm around his Mother and rested his head on her shoulder. "Mommy, if we try, maybe you'll be able to send cosmos messages to each other."

Shunrei looked up. "Ryuho, I'll be an old woman before I reach that point. Let's just get a cell phone before you leave."

~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~

**Coming June 8**

**Chapter Two: A New Age with Old Age**

**Ryuho comes to check out the new school system, shocked at the differences between his own training and Palestra. However, he is not the only one who enrolls at the Saint School.**

~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~

_Author's Notes_

_After I ended Love You, Kill Me, in my notes I asked for requests for ideas on other fics to write and this was one of bronze andromeda shun's. This one took a while, not only because I was trying to adjust to writing in the SSO universe, and that with every new episode, I ended up going back to make adjustments for this story. Plus, whenever I write requests, I spend twice the amount of time thinking and writing just because I don't like letting people down. _

_In Saint Seiya Omega, I felt they did a great job with Ryuho's background and character and so I thought I'd focus on what was not discussed: why Ryuho went to Palestra despite having Shiryu and him clearly stating they could use the cosmos to talk to each other.  
_

_So far, I've watched eight episodes of Saint Seiya Omega, and I must say I do like the show. It has good characters, plenty of throwbacks to the original, and episode eight shows the potential for a really intriguing storyline. It's not as great as the original, but I think if you liked the character-focused direction of Lost Canvas, you'll like this one too. _

_The only things that I do not like are the Elements and Yuna's Cloth. I like Yuna, but her outfit is terrible, and this is coming from the person who adores the one character who wore pink metal boobs in his debut. As for the elements, well, I can't write a rant in my notes just because it would be too long, but I'll definitely do an essay on it somewhere, unfortunately it can't be here since it wouldn't be considered a story. For now, I just do the "just go with it" and it doesn't really deter me from enjoying the show.  
_

_Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Next one shouldn't be as dark as this.  
_

_Jenny D_


	2. Chapter 2

**Saint Seiya Omega: Enter the Dragon**

**Chapter Two: A New Age with Old Age**

A man chained and locked his bicycle outside the familiar bar that he and his friends used to frequent. Its name was different, but he could see the familiar deer on the side of the old Hind's Blood Bar of Rodario. While his face was that of a teenager, he was truly a year before his fortieth, an age where the appreciation for things nostalgic is at their highest.

Ichi threw his old coat over his shoulder with one hand while using his other that clutched a scroll to pushed an old wooden, recently repainted door. Inside, he was quite surprised at how much brighter the place looked, the walls decorated with various trinkets and paintings. The triple stripper poles that the bar was famous for were gone and replaced with a trio of teenage Palestra Saints, out of uniform apparently called Compass Connection.

"Not going to sit up front? You'll have your usual front row view?"

Ichi looked up to see the one thing that hasn't changed. "Not tonight, Anthony. I'll just take a seat here on the long island of loneliness" Ichi pointed toward the barstool and sat at the counter to face the endless rows of bottles before resting his head in his hand. He turned around to see a mother with her two children ordering milk shakes from a dancer turned waitress whom he used to slip a couple of Euros in the side string of her thong. "What happened to this place?" rasped Ichi as he turned back to the bartender. "This was the biggest bar around Sanctuary and now it is a family restaurant?"

Anthony the bartender sighed as he grabbed a large half empty bowl of complimentary peanuts and began to slowly fill them up. "It was the biggest bar and it almost became the last. After Palestra was built, some dickhead named Ionia sent an order that he will not have a place that offers threesome amateur night like this within a hundred feet of his school." The bartender gave a deep shrug. "I told him it is his fault that he didn't do the research to know he was building a place near the red light district, but I asked if there was something I could do. He said ditch the dancers and change name since Hind's Blood Bar had been turning away families."

Ichi raised an eyebrow. "Zeus' Juices is cleaner?"

But Anthony lowered his sly eyes and brought a finger over his thick mustached lips. "Ionia thinks so." Anthony stifled a chuckle and watched Ichi's smile grow. "Hey, we offer healthy _creamy _smoothie discounts as well as _milk_shakes. Plus, when you think Greek Mythology, you think of Zeus! It's a perfect name."

"Fine but, can't you do better than that?" Ichi turned to the stage and watched as the lead singer crooned at the microphone.

Anthony pointed up. "They can't shake their tits but the amazons think they are cute and they can at least sing, especially Gary Styles and Ziall Horan."

"Yeah but this is just too much! This is supposed to be a bar for men to drink, not teenage girls sucking milkshakes!" Ichi moaned as he placed his hands in his white Mohawk. "Why can't things," he shook his head, "just stay the same! I'm tired of all these fucking _changes_." He sighed before he looked up, "I'm sorry, I'm taking your time. Give me a Thirteenth Labor of Heracles, unless that's gone too!" Ichi bemoaned as he dropped two hundred Euros in front of Anthony.

"Don't worry; I haven't turned it into some fruity milkshake yet." But the bartender, sensing some heavy issues going on in the Saint's head and feeling a bit touched that he'd go all this way to his place, simply pushed the money back. "This one is on the house." The Thirteenth Labor of Hercules was considered the drink that only a Saint could take in with only a ten percent risk of a heart attack. In fact, Silver Saint tradition required that the night you earn your Cloth, the other Silvers would pitch in and you had to drink the whole cup.

Anthony grabbed a very thick brown bottle and set it down on the counter gently. The last time it fell, he had to replace the roof. He reached for a gas mask and slipped it over his face before summoning his courage to twist the cap off and poured a glass before sliding it easily to Ichi.

Ichi sighed as he picked up the glass as the bartender slowly assembled a blast shield in front of him. He took a large gulp and before pulling it back after his heart stopped beating. He took his fist and slammed his chest to jumpstart it before he continued to sip a lot slower to avoid a trip to the hospital. He turned his head and saw a whole clique of amazons laughing around the table enjoying the music.

"Hey!"

"AH!" Ichi squeaked as he juggled his cup, spilling a couple of drops and burning a good sized hole in the counter and causing Anthony to do a dive roll under the wine rack.

Geki pulled his head over his old friend's shoulder, "Oh man, I didn't know you had a Thirteenth Labor of Heracles!"

"Yeah, didn't you see the blast shield?" asked Ichi as he pointed over toward the inch thick sheet of metal in front.

Geki stepped back, stunned knowing the legendary Thirteenth Labor of Heracles. "Sorry!"

Anthony pulled his girth up, brushing off some cobwebs off his shoulder. "If you scare him again, you owe me a new building," he said as he waved his finger and turned away to attend to some Amazons wanting a refill on their strawberry milkshakes.

Geki gave an easy sway of his hands to show things were okay before he sat next to Ichi. He sat there with a thick grin, hoping it would pass on to him, only for silence to come between them.

"Don't you have a teacher's meeting to attend to?" Ichi grumbled.

Geki continued his silly smile. "I heard you were in town, and told them I'll catch up tomorrow. I didn't think you would ever leave Finland until you discovered the element of your cosmos." He was surprised that Ichi hadn't even laughed once since his arrival. "You did figure it out, didn't you? No more Elemental Deficiency?"

Ichi sighed throwing his hands and drink in the air, "I couldn't do it! I tried and tried, but nothing would appear. Twenty five years of practice," he swung his glass in a drunken fashion, "I still can't do it! Why am I the only one with ED!" he moaned with a soft hand on his cheek, ignoring the panic and screams of the waitresses watching the volatile drink swished back and forth.

Geki reached over and steadied his drunken hand, bringing the drink down to the steady counter. "There there, you're not the only one with ED. I had it for five years… Nachi had it for ten…"

Ichi's bottom lip pouted. "I know, but they all went to the school back when it was filled with adults. Now that everyone moved on all there is left is," he paused as he heard a high pitched note. "I thought I could do it by myself and if I want to do it before I turned forty I need to change something but in order to that I have to go through…"

"I LOVE YOU GARY STYLES!" screamed an Amazon as she pulled her mask and flashed her face at Compass Connection.

"…that!" Ichi pointed over. "I'm old enough to be their dad and most of the teachers there, and I have to take class with them?" He said as he pulled out the registration form for Palestra.

It was at that moment, Geki understood why Ichi was acting like the way he was tonight. "Oh, don't feel so embarrassed. You could have easily retired from Sainthood, and you choose to come back, put yourself in the line of fire against Mars?"

Ichi rolled his eyes, "Mars? Are you kidding? What about all those brats you kept bitching about to me about how rotten some of them can get. I don't want them to tease me!" Ichi whined as he threw his head against the table and cried out loud.

Geki patted Ichi's back. "Oh you'll find people like that outside of school." It didn't help that the difficulty of becoming a Saint has decreased severely over the years. The fact that the building has central air conditioners and most can go through training wearing a white uniform was testament about how soft they've become. "Besides, adults go back to college all the time, I don't see any reason an adult couldn't go back training."

Ichi nodded. "I guess you're right. At least you will be there as a teacher and some from the old gang. Ban hasn't awakened his element."

Geki raised a finger. "Actually, he got married and decided to leave the Saint life, passing his Clothstone to that one son of the Southern Cross Saint."

Ichi paused, "Jabu?"

"He finished a few months ago."

"Shaina?" Ichi gazed at Geki's strange reaction. "Don't tell me I didn't find my element before Shaina, did I?"

"No, you're not _that_ bad at elements. But thirteen years ago, she got sick of class and said she'll go back to training in the traditional style." Geki muttered.

"But she's already a terrible teacher! She couldn't teach the cosmos back when the old ways were the only ways." gasped Ichi.

"She said she'll just copy Marin's way of teaching the cosmos."

Ichi shifted his eyes, "but she needs to teach the elements."

"Yes," Geki nodded. "But when I asked her that part, she said _fuck the elements_ and went her own way. I even heard she has a student right now, and my assumption is that she ain't bothering with anything involving the elements." He took a deep breath, "I pity the poor person who receives her guidance."

"No kidding," muttered Ichi as he took one last swig of his cup and slammed it on the counter not realizing that there was enough for a chemical reaction.

**~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~**

_Last night, a two block evacuation order was issued after the bar, Zeus Juices, formally Hynd's Blood Bar reported that someone has shook one of the bar's signature drink's The Thirteenth Labor of Heracles. Firefighters and a bomb squad were able to safely contain and detonate the drink outside the city limits. The police department later issued a statement that their phone lines went down after thousands reported hearing an explosion._

"Oh my," gasped Ryuho as he listened to the radio while he and his Mother sat in the Taxi. "I hope nobody was hurt!"

However, the driver just simply shrugged. "Actually, back in the day, this was the norm."

"The norm?" questioned the Dragon Saint as he felt the car stop at a traffic light.

The man nodded. "Yep. Before the Civil War at the Twelve Houses, when I was a foot soldier, I remember going to that bar all the time and it seemed every week someone would shake the Thirteenth Labor of Heracles or _T-LoH _as we called it. Of course, nobody was required to call the police or a bomb squad; we just send someone sober to take it out back, toss it in the back and enjoy the fireworks. One Saint decided to go to the extreme and threw their body on top of it like a live grenade."

Ryuho, entranced by the tale, leaned forward. "What happened to him?"

"They had to get a new Lizard Saint." The driver sighed as he lowered his head.

"Oh my goodness!" gasped Shunrei as she placed a hand over her lips.

Ryuho felt horrified for a moment until he watched the driver's turned face shake as if to stifle a laughter. "No he didn't!" Ryuho playfully narrowed his eyes while throwing his hands on his sides.

The driver laughed, impressed the boy caught on. "Yeah, I was actually," he chuckled as the light turned green and he continued to drive. "Although all that other stuff was true though. The only reason the T-LoH raises so much attention is because Ionia probably ordered the owner to have a set of regulations to follow and well," the driver felt saddened for a bit, "for a long time, there weren't _any _Saints left to drink it, when the _legend of youth_… almost died."

Ryuho's eyes shifted to his mother as he watched her draw her hand close to her mouth. Nobody liked talking about the darkest chapter in Saint history. Even he felt a shiver down his back at the thought of so many unnecessary deaths. He unbuckled his seat belt so he could come closer to the driver. "But soon there will be. Nearly every Cloth has been filled; we just need to be train harder to meet Athena's expectations and become Silvers."

The former soldier slowly nodded, "I guess," he shifted his eyes toward the boy. In his eyes, the newest generation at Palestra call themselves Saints, even if they didn't come close to those in the past. Even the foot soldiers he served with were more like Saints than the best at the Saint School. However, he should keep his mouth shut, especially since he seemed to be a sweet kid and his mother was present. "Thanks." He turned back to focus on driving. "Could you put on your seat belt? If one of the teachers saw you out of it, I could get fined for not enforcing the law in my cab."

Ryuho immediately nodded and sat back to _click it before a ticket_. He turned his head toward his Mother and watched as her attention was practically glued toward the view. "Is it how you remembered, Mother?" he asked her, surprised as she shook her head no.

"No not at all. Actually, aside from golf carts and buses for the tourists, there were no vehicles here," she spoke as several Palestra students in uniform were busy street racing each other in the other lane. As the diesel fumes filled the slightly cracked taxi windows, Shunrei watched as her son began to cough harshly, his body jerking into himself each time. Even as he took his shirt and placed it over his face, she could see his face begin to pale. She reached over for his shoulder, fearing he may pass out any moment. "Ryuho, can you count to ten for Mommy?"

Ryuho nodded as he felt droplets of sweat that was so heavy, he could mistake it for rain. "一, 二, 三"

Shunrei grew worried, "In Greek, sweetie. Remember, we're not at home right now."

Ryuho nodded. "Sorry, one, two, three."

Shunrei listened to her son count paying close attention to his tone and his eyes to ensure he kept good eye contact. To her relief, he finished his numbers just fine. She pulled out her thermos and poured a cup into the large cap and passed it to him. "Still exhausted from the plane ride?" she asked as she watched him sip it slowly.

Ryuho nodded. "I couldn't believe how high we were. Everything down below looked like some toy model set." His favorite was when they were slowly landing and everything began to look more real. "Did Father like to fly?"

"He did." She didn't want to mention that he only did with friends and would often complain it was too slow to travel. Stories of his Father were like a double edge sword, she could tell he loved hearing them but would feel a bit upset that he was not up to par to him, physically, despite out-powering Shiryu through his cosmos.

"There it is the pearl of this giant clam of the land, Palestra!" pointed the driver as he forward.

Ryuho turned his head away from his cup and gasped at the size of the place, hearing his mother seemingly in as much awe as he was that the building was bigger than the airport that they came from. Most impressive was of course the bricked road that led to the large statue of Athena in the center of the court with large fountains built into parts of the roof that flowed like waterfalls. He returned his gaze back toward the front where a man stood waving his hand.

Once the taxi stopped, Ryuho immediately jumped out and ran to him. "Geki!" He cried as he waved his hands.

The Bear Saint ran over and lifted him up, causing the Chinese boy's sandals to fall off. "Ryuho! How are you doing!" He looked over toward the small scar on the boy's neck. "Hey, no more tracheotomy?"

Ryuho smiled and nodded. "Yep, I can breathe on my own without a tube anymore!"

"That's awesome!" he shouted as he held the boy like a toy doll in the air. When he heard Ryuho was coming to Palestra, he expected him to come in with his walker and ventilator. If he didn't know about his sickly health before hand, he'd mistaken him for any other healthy boy.

Ryuho looked down. "Uhm, could you put me down, I think something you ate is giving me hives."

Geki's eyes widened as he quickly put him down, having forgotten he had peanuts beforehand. He turned his head over toward tiny Shunrei, a woman with her short stance and ageless Asian beauty looked more like Ryuho's twin sister. "It's been a long time, Geki. How are you doing?" she asked to him, in her typical shy tone.

"I've been doing fantastic. One of my students actually made Silver rank and I've been seeing several old friends over the past week that plan on coming here."

Ryuho turned his head as he heard that. "Really, is Shaina giving Palestra a second chance?" He was shocked when Geki bursted out laughing.

Geki held his chest as he tried to control himself. "No, she's still angry at the elements concept. " Shaina was a woman who was so hard headed in her hate against the element concept that there was a greater chance of Hades loving human life than the Amazon ever coming back to Palestra to learn. "Actually it is uh, Ichi." Geki spoke with a strange hesitance.

Ryuho was a little surprised by his father's old friend. "Is something wrong?" He looked at his arms. "Don't worry about me. As long as my hives don't turn my hands purple, I don't have to worry about getting a shot."

But Geki shook his head no. "It's not about that it's just-"

"Hey everyone!"

"It is good to see you, Ichi. I heard you are going to Palestra too," smiled Shunrei as Ichi came out, wearing his new uniform.

Ichi sighed a bit as he spotted several students hanging out and staring at him. "Ah, this sucks. Why do I have to be the only adult in a kid's uniform!" he thought before trying to look pleasant in front of his friends. "Oh yes I am. I thought my element power needed fine tuning!"

Ryuho, cheerful butterfly that he was, came up to him. "I'm so glad. It will be nice having people I know attending school too. What is your element?" he asked.

Ichi sweated a bit. "Ah yes… my element… well what is yours?" he asked back without answering first.

"Water, like my Father. See!" Ryuho held his hands up and casually caused each of the waterfall fountains to reverse in their currents toward the sky before forming long water dragons that seemingly streamed across from one fountain to the other. Gasps from other students filled the air before several rounds of applause followed. He turne d his head toward the highest window and saw a man with a great white beard poke his head through the curtain before stepping away. Ryuho, not wishing to be rude toward Ichi, returned his attention back to him. "So what is yours?"

Ichi stood there stupid. "Uh," he mumbled as he shifted his eyes from Geki's glances of encouragement to the fantastic water dragons that were causing several students to risk getting their cell phones taken away in order to take pictures of them . He finally snapped and leaned forward to Ryuho's ear. "It's a _secret_!"

Ryuho found that a little difficult to do, seeing that most courses will involve using one's elements, but then he saw Geki's face, as he passed a look to just _go with it_. "Ah, I see.

Ichi grinned wildly and as he threw a hand in his Mohawk before spotting a set of sandals and Ryuho's bare feet. "Oh let me get those for you!" he shouted as he plucked them up and began to hand them back. It was then, he realized something. "Hey, you're not wearing leg braces anymore!"

Ryuho nodded. "Yep, the doctors performed surgery on them. I had to wear casts for a while but now I can walk on my own now!" He said as he wiggled his toes before sliding his shoes back on.

"That's good. Well, I have to go now. I have many things to do and I'm sure you do to! Too-doo-loo!" Ichi awkwardly laughed before he hurried out there.

Geki waited for Ichi to leave before he approached Ryuho. "Ryuho, there's something I need to ask involving," he pointed in Ichi's direction.

Ryuho turned his head. "He still hasn't found his element yet?"

"How did you know?" asked Geki.

Ryuho touched his head. "Elements that have yet to be used would never fluctuate with emotions because they are dormant and sleeping in a person's body. His face looked a little embarrassed and so I didn't want to say anything." In fact, he felt terrible for even showing off. But if he must mention he was his Father's son, it only seemed right that he shared with everyone the greatness of his teachings that were passed on to him.

Geki nodded. He heard Ryuho was good with the cosmos, but his little demonstration already made him appear stronger than half the staff at Palestra. If his body wasn't as fragile as a plate being spun on the end of a stick, he would definitely rank as a Gold Saint by now. "That's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about. His confidence in his lack of an element is very low as well as his embarrassment of _going back_. In order to make him feel more comfortable with the situation, I promised he could be in my class and I'll back him up. Well, as it turned out, for the first semester here, you both will have Mr. Georges. I was wondering if you could, be his friend while you both are there."

Ryuho couldn't believe he was asking something so silly. "Aren't I already his friend?" he smiled.

Geki nodded, "you are, but I was wondering if you could one of his best friends. Mr. Georges is a very _very_ rough teacher especially with those who haven't properly awaken their element yet. Not only that but he also recently had a break up with his girlfriend and so his mood swings a lot more than usual." He had to spend thirty minutes trying to get Ichi to muster the courage to put on his uniform earlier.

Ryuho nodded. "I understand. Don't worry, I'll take care of Ichi."

Geki smiled once more as he rubbed Ryuho on the head. "Thanks. Your old man was always reliable and it seemed you've inherited that as well."

Ryuho smiled. "Thank you, although, I think I need an allergy shot since your hands had the peanut dust on them and it has probably went into my lungs.

"Oh shit!" gasped Geki as he realized what he had done.

Ryuho waved a hand. "No its okay, in fact this will be a good time to learn what to do in case of an allergy attack."

Shunrei was already fiddling for the medical kit long before. She passed Geki the gloves. "Put those on, and use this needle. There is already some serum in it."

Geki did as he was told, as he covered his hands and removed the cap off. "I'm so sorry! I completely forgot all about it."

Ryuho waved his hand again. "No its okay, some weeks we can't go a day without me needing shot and it's not always because of peanuts," he said as he reached over and opened another zipper on his Mother's purse to show dozens of medication and other needles ready to be injected.

"Geez, Shunrei, did you get your medical license just to take care of him?" asked Geki, astonished by the arsenal she had.

Shunrei sighed. "I had to learn many things when he was born. Funny enough, when Shiryu lost his senses, Shun came over and offered to help me out with Ryuho and the experience actually drove him to go out and become a doctor."

"Oh that's nice," commented Geki.

"_It is nice, but Mr. Geki, could you please hurry up and insert the needle here. My trachea has swelled shut and I'm not getting any oxygen._" Spoke Ryuho through the cosmos.

"Oh sorry!" Geki apologized before inserting the needle.

**~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~**

**Coming July 8**

**Saint Seiya Omega: Enter the Dragon **

**Chapter Three: Legendary Legend: The Great Shiryu and the Almighty Ichi**

**Ryuho tells the others how truly great his Father is while Ichi brags about how great the Legendary Ichi was against Evil Saints, Generals, Asgardians and Specters.**

**~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~**

**Author's notes**

**I never mean for this to take so long to write. But, when the great Fanfic purge happened, I had so much anxiety afterwards wondering if any of my stories or my friends stories of being erased that I pretty much had a case of writer's block. This is supposed to be a light hearted story and it's so difficult to write comedy when your mind is stressed out. If you have me on Author's Alert, you can see that I even wrote a really dumb Harry Potter fic (cranked it out in about ten minutes) just to try and ease my tension and get back in the mood to write again. **

**I finally found my stride again and was able to write up to my normal speed again where as before; I was probably getting a paragraph a day instead of a couple of pages. I'm pretty excited for the next part since I finally got the two characters together.**

**Originally this part was supposed to be the other half of the first chapter. But because this was more comedic then the other, it didn't feel right to have one half about a family trying to make an important decision and the other about worrying if a drink was going to destroy a former titty bar. Also to note, I know there was a bit of Shaina bashing, but hey, how else can I explain how the heck did she spend years being Kouga's teacher without explaining anything on the elements.  
**

**Thanks for reviewing the first chapter guys. It honestly helped pull out of my writer's block faster.**

**Jenny D **

**PS: I couldn't believe it, but Thrudgelmir2333 showed me that in Saint Seiya Omega, Shun actually fights an armored lion. If you read Love You, Kill Me, you'd know why I'm pretty freaked out over my newfound psychic abilities.**

**PPS: SHUN IS IN EPISODE 12 OF SAINT SEIYA OMEGA VOICED BY ALBAFICA! ***_**blows up**_*****


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